Friday, 7 September 2007

New Humanist contributor Andrew Mueller has written a nice little piece on Comment is Free, suggesting that rationalists can benefit from the proliferation of eccentric, artificial belief systems.

Citing the example of the widow of US soldier Sergeant Patrick Stewart, who has been campaigning for the recognition of their Wiccan religion by the Department of Veteran Affairs, Mueller says rationalists need not be concerned by increased pandering to both mainstream religions and obscure sects. Rather, he suggests that the more belief systems gain recognition, the greater chance of reaching critical mass and the whole world of superstition collapsing "beneath the weight of its own foolishness".